Booklist Interview with Me & Júlia Sardà

The editors of Booklist have chosen Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein as their 2018 Top of the List Picture Book. I feel enormously honoured. 

As part of this choice, the Booklist editors asked Julia Smith to interview Júlia Sardà and me about our processes in writing and illustrating Mary. For me, this was very exciting. I have written almost twenty picture books and have been lucky to have them illustrated by some superbly talented illustrators. Some of these illustrators I know well, but most I have never met. This is the first time an interviewer has ever asked me and an illustrator to answer the same questions about our shared creation. As I have never met Júlia, who lives in Barcelona, this was an incredible opportunity for me to get a glimpse into her process. I loved reading her responses — as thoughtful, insightful and unique as her art — and I hope to meet her one day. You can find the interview at:

https://www.booklistonline.com/Top-of-the-List-Interview-Linda-Bailey-and-J-lia-Sard-/pid=9714234?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 

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Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein

Well, here's a post that's well overdue . . .

Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein, published by Tundra Books and illustrated by the amazing Júlia Sardà, has been out in the world for a few months now . . . and is getting a wonderful reception. Here are some of the ways the book has been honoured:

* Starred reviews in Publishers' Weekly and Booklist
* Best Books of 2018, Publishers' Weekly
* Best Books of 2018, New York Public Library
* Best Books of 2018, Globe & Mail
* Top of the List Picture Book of 2018, Booklist
* Betsy Bird's 2018 Calde-notts, Fuse 8, School Library Journal
* Best Canadian YA & Children's Literature of 2018, CBC Broadcasting
* Best Non-Fiction Picture Books of 2018, The Children's Book Review

I'm thrilled beyond words.

Just a bit of back story. Like most of my books, this one had a long gestation. It started in 2009 with a reading of Frankenstein, during which I found myself gripped and amazed by Mary Shelley's Author's Introduction. Two things stood out for me — Mary's daydreamy nature during her childhood, and her self-described writing process during the creation of Frankenstein. I was interested in Mary-the-writer . . . and her childhood habit of building "castles in the air" seemed to be key to her creative process as an adult.

I began to learn more about Mary and her life. Wonderful bios for adults have been written in recent years, and reading them, I started to wonder about writing Mary's story for kids. I poked along slowly, loving the research and process, and it was years before I handed a complete manuscript to my editor at Tundra Books — Tara Walker. It was Tara who brought Júlia Sardà in to illustrate, and who, with the help of John Martz's fine design, brought my words and Júlia's stunning art together to create the final book. As a timely coincidence, 2018 happened to be the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein — a perfect year to publish Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein.

I'm as delighted as I could possibly be with the final book. So beautiful!

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Welcome to Under-the-Bed Fred!

Welcome to Under-the-Bed Fred — a new chapter book for early grades!

From the moment I started to write this book, I felt I knew Fred well. Why? Because the story is so rooted in my own childhood fears of that "thing" that lurks under the bed, inside the closet or behind the furnace in the basement. For me, the "thing" was a shape-shifter, but it usually manifested as a wild animal — lion, tiger, wolf. If pressed to explain how such a creature could have ended up under my bed, I would have had a ready answer. The Winnipeg Zoo. Obviously! I had been there. I had seen the animals. Clearly, this one must have escaped.

Well, that was then. And now, after all these years . . . here's Fred, turning up in a book. He's the "thing" that hides under Leo's bed. And Leo, like me, is obliged to leap from his bedroom door into bed to avoid getting his ankles grabbed. Once there, he doesn't dare dangle an arm over the side. Nor can he get up to pee at night.

But unlike my young self, Leo tackles his problem head-on. "Hey, you!" he eventually says. And so the conversation starts . . . and with it, one of those odd-couple relationships that are such fun to write. Leo has things to teach Fred. Fred has things to teach Leo.

It's about friendship. The first in a series.


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Two New Books for Spring, 2017! YAAAY!

Carson Crosses Canada is a brand new sesquicentennial book. Happy 150th birthday, Canada!

Carson the dog and his friend-and-driver Annie Magruder take a cross-country trip across Canada. From Tofino, BC to Witless Bay, Newfoundland, they drive coast-to-coast to visit Annie’s ailing sister Elsie. “Are we there yet?” barks Carson. Along the way, they see, hear, smell, touch and taste the grandest land of all — Canada! From dinosaurs in Alberta to tourtiere in Quebec to tidal flats in New Brunswick, Annie and Carson enjoy every moment. And at the end? A wonderful surprise for Carson! Stunningly illustrated by Kass Reich, published by Tundra Books, this book will arrive in bookstores on May 30.

The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library is the story of a very small character with a very big heart. Eddie is a bug who lives in Room 19 of Ferny Creek Elementary School with his parents, his Aunt Min and his 53 brothers and sisters. Unusually for a bug, he has learned to read. So when Aunt Min disappears in the Library, Eddie bravely sets off to find her — a perilous journey! Along the way, there are gigantic big-footed Squishers (humans) who could squish a bug in two seconds flat. When Eddie finally arrives at the Library, he finds his poor aunt injured. Even worse, a nasty plan is afoot to close the Library forever. What can one tiny book-loving bug do? Published by Greenwillow Press in the U.S. and Tundra Books in Canada and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson, Tiny Hero will be available in bookstores June 20.






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Three New Fall Books (the Math!)

I've been writing kids' books now for decades — and they generally come out one a year at best. But this fall, for the first time, I have three new books coming out all at once. See below — three! I'm a little gobsmacked.

Other people are as surprised as I am. A few have said things like, "Whoa, you've been busy." Well, yes . . . but no. These books are all being published this year. As for how long I've been writing them, that's a different story. I checked my files:

Stanley at School — started 7 years ago
When Santa Was a Baby — started 11 years ago
Seven Dead Pirates — started 18 years ago

Add it up. It comes to . . . 36 years! That's not cumulative time, of course, but even so — none of these books exactly tripped off my pen. Most of that time they spent in a computer file labeled "VAULT."  I call it that to remind myself of its value because on the surface, it doesn't look like much. A scrap heap. Messy files, half-baked ideas, semi-abandoned projects.

But that's the thing about writing . . . you never know. Some faint spark might, years later, finally strike and blaze. The 17th draft of that execrable little story might turn out to be . . . the one. And meanwhile, there's the slow, steady polishing.

My three shiny new books all put in time in the scrap heap (VAULT!) of a working writer. Eventually, they found their way to the surface. And from that, two simple thoughts emerge to sustain me in the inevitable years of no-books:

1. Don't be in a hurry.
2. Don't throw anything out.

Ever. 


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